POST 00921E : UPDATE ON SOLAR REFRIGERATOR

POST 00921E : UPDATE ON SOLAR REFRIGERATOR 5 May 2006 _________________________________________________________________ The following update on SolarChill battery-free solar regrigerators is sent by Carib Nelson (mailto:[email protected]) from PATH. ______________________________________________________________________________ SolarChill update --- April 2006 The SolarChill vaccine refrigerator is an innovative approach to solar refrigeration that eliminates the use of batteries. Instead of batteries, ice is used to provide vaccine cooling overnight and during periods of low sunlight. SolarChill was field tested during 2004-2005 in Senegal, Indonesia, and Cuba. Acceptability and ease-of-use was high, but some temperature variations were observed. During the past year the team has refined the design and new results are excellent: the SolarChill holds vaccine temperatures between 2 and 8 degrees during typical day-night solar cycles. In low-sun situations the SolarChill maintains temperatures below 15C for 5 days. The next step toward SolarChill availability is WHO approval. The WHO PQS process is moving forward, with a new specification for battery-free solar refrigerators. As soon as the specifications are complete SolarChill will be submitted for WHO prequalification. The project is now looking for funding and sites for a large (200 unit) installation that would further demonstrate the impact of the battery-free-solar approach. In addition to eliminating the difficult-to-maintain batteries typical of conventional solar refrigerators, the SolarChill is expected to cost significantly less. The projected price, including solar panels is $1500-$2000. To assure this technology is available at the lowest possible prices, the SolarChill concept will be freely available to manufacturers around the world. Another feature is SolarChill’s environmentally responsible design: Hydorcarbon refrigerant is used to prevent damage to the ozone layer to eliminate reliance on global-warming gases. For further information about SolarChill please view the website: http://www.solarchill.org SolarChill has been developed by a partnership of Danish Technical Institute, Greenpeace International, PATH, GTZ Proklima, UNICEF, UNEP and WHO. Industrial partners are Danfoss and VestFrost ______________________________________________________________________________ Visit the TECHNET21 Website at http://www.technet21.org You will find instructions to subscribe, a direct access to archives, links to reference documents and other features. ______________________________________________________________________________ To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a message to : mailto:[email protected] Leave the subject area BLANK In the message body, write unsubscribe TECHNET21E ______________________________________________________________________________ The World Health Organization and UNICEF support TechNet21. The TechNet21 e-Forum is a communication/information tool for generation of ideas on how to improve immunization services. It is moderated by Claude Letarte and is hosted in cooperation with the Centre de coopération internationale en santé et développement, Québec, Canada (http://www.ccisd.org) ______________________________________________________________________________